Perjury of the Lotus
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Shikamaru. Ino. Roses aren't red and lies are habitual. They are wasted on the innocent.


_Disclaimer_; Characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei. I am but his loyal fangirl.

**Perjury of the Lotus**

They like to lie. To each other; to themselves. It's a nasty habit.

He is standing on the other side of the counter and she is wrapping his chosen flowers. Or, at least, she is preparing to, and glancing skeptically at his choice. "That's the yellow rose, Shika," she says quietly, cutting the measured amount of blue ribbon from the rack. He snorts behind her.

"And so what?"

"Well, nothing, if you don't care that is symbolizes decrease in love."

"It's a rose. They're all the same."

"Untrue," she says, dropping the length of ribbon onto the counter and leaning over. She points to the shelf dedicated to nothing but roses, all various shades and colors. "You're thinking of roses in general and, yes, they all mean 'love'. But different kinds of love. See the burgundy ones?" He nodded. "They symbolize unconscious beauty. And the white ones say, 'I am worthy of you.' But it's not just the color; the amount counts, too. One means simplicity, whereas a multiflora means 'grace.'"

She ties the three yellow roses together with the blue ribbon and takes a card from under the counter, sliding it and a pen over toward him. He flushes at her rapt attention, turning his shoulder slightly as if to ward off her vision of his note.

"Do you really love her?"

He looks up to find her eyes blank, completely devoid of emotion. It surprised him, but only a little. He slides the pen and the note (face-down) back to her and shoves his hands in his pockets, looking away.

"Yes."

She nods when she'd rather convulse, and takes a silent, shaky breath. "I thought so."

The silence is suffocating, but he knows she's working quickly to get him out. They don't want this anymore, because so many things are left unsaid. He wishes they weren't so obvious. He wishes they would go away. He wishes he wasn't so _torn_.

"And… you?" he asks quietly. She turns her eyes to him, her breath catching slightly.

"Me…?"

"Do you love me?"

She cannot move and she cannot speak. There is a faint ring in her head and she doesn't remember why she is _still_ giving him a supportive façade. But then she remembers that his life it not hers, and that her life is not his. And because of this she does what she has always been meant to do; it was, after all, determined by Fate.

"No."

The roses are passed to him, rolling from her arms to his, and she turns quickly, pressing the heel of her palm to her temple. She wants to cry, but, _dammit_, he won't leave, and so she has to breathe in deeply, her exhale wobbling on the edge of a sob.

"Yes?" she turns and smiles. It's a horrible smile that wouldn't fool anyone with half a mind.

"Don't do this," he says, his own eyes emitting some melancholy that makes her heart lurch. She doesn't want to hurt him; that is why she isn't holding him back.

"This would be more fitting," she says offhandedly, disregarding his comment and handing him a lotus flower. "Give this to her as well; my gift."

"I suppose that _it_ has some deep, hidden meaning as well," he says sardonically. She smiles.

_Estranged love_, she recites in her mind. "True love," she says aloud, propping her elbows on the counter and resting her chin in her palms. "I wish you two the best of luck."

He is standing on the other side of the counter, so close yet so, _so_ far away.

They like to lie. To each other; to themselves. _It's a nasty habit._

- 0 -

_: Awaken, memories that I shut away on that day; holding my head high,  
__I'll go out toward tomorrow  
I'll open the door, and just keep moving forward  
For you, who gave me this love  
Whether we say "I love you" or "I hate you"  
Now, for the two of us that love one another, it's good-bye :_

- Fin -

**Lyrics: Sayonara, by Orange Range, the best band in existence. I was tempted to put the whole song up there.  
****I was just sitting in my room, being banned from the comp, and this popped into my mind. Which is odd, because I'm actually feeling quite chipper!  
****But, ugh. I am truly opposed to ShikaTema. I **_**want**_** to be able to support it, because you just can't **_**avoid**_** the confrontation sometimes, but… I just can't. ShikaTema is the equivalent to Zutara (Avatar) to me—there's somebody that's going to be hurt in the process. Someone I love. With ShikaTema it's Ino, and with Zutara it's Aang. I suppose that's why I can't support it. But maybe not—I don't know. It probably has something to do with my not liking Temari at all. And, contrary to popular belief, it's NOT because I prefer ShikaIno to ShikaTema. It's because of how completely **_**horrible**_** she was to Tenten in the Chuunins. But, whatev. Tenten's cooler anyway.  
****On my profile you can find a link to the symbolism of all flowers.  
****-Bya**


End file.
